The plan is now in an early stage of public approval—a “scoping” phase for the environmental review—with a hearing to be held on Oct. 29 at the Department of City Planning.

On its face, the plan seems a bit less controversial than his involvement at Coney Island, where city officials desperately sought to push Mr. Sitt out of the area they wanted to redevelop, offering to buy his land (the two sides have squabbled over a price, and no deal has yet been signed).

At the Bensonhurst site, the players are not all that different: the Department of City Planning is still involved, and the local Councilman, Domenic Recchia, is the same.